The tides of horse racing are well and truly changing - and we might have one man to thank for it all.
Peter V'landys has been front and centre of rugby league in the past two years, and while many NRL fans have divided opinions over the ARLC boss, his work in his other major role has turned racing on its head.
With the introduction of the $15 million The Everest back in 2017, V'landys made Sydney a prominent player during a time where Melbourne racing had been so dominant for many years.
This year, there's another new big-money race with 'The Invitation' set to be held this Saturday, with a total prizemoney of $2 million.
And while many racing purists are up in arms and believe the big races in spring should be reserved for Victoria, everyone else is loving the changes that V'landys has made.
“I understand the purists care about that, but the people that make money out of this game are loving this," legendary trainer Richard Freedman told Sporting News.
"If it does split the talent pool, it makes it easier for us to win a good race up here and easier for them to win a good race down there. More people are happy – everybody is happy.
“People in Sydney like to go to the racing in spring – this year is a bit different, they won’t be able to go in great numbers because of the COVID situation. Generally, they like to go racing in the spring just like everybody else does.
"It’s the spring racing season and for years, Sydney was sort of locked out of that because of this handshake agreement with Melbourne and they took all the thunder in the spring.
"Peter V’landys sort of tipped that on its head, and now Sydney has almost as strong a spring as Melbourne.
“It’s phenomenal, and that’s why there are much fewer horses going to Melbourne from Sydney.
"The argument is that they split the jockey talent and split the horse talent – I don’t think the people who punt on racing or go to the racing really care that much.
"I think the purists do, but I think the average person who has $10 on every race of the afternoon, I don’t think he cares."
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Saturday's new race at Randwick will be partnered by the $1 million Bondi Stakes, with the two feature races to go head-to-head with the Cox Plate.
Freedman will have a runner in The Invitation in Forbidden Love, who he believes will be a good chance if there is some moisture in the track.
“We’ve got a good mare now, Fobidden Love. She probably wanted a wet track and we thought we were going to get one this week, but have a look at this – it’s been sunny all week," he said.
"That track is going to be firm so it will be challenging for her. She is one of the few or maybe even the only Group 1 winners in the field.
“She likes to get her toe in the ground, and she just hasn’t had that this preparation. We were hoping we would get it this week, but it doesn’t look like happening.
"It will depend how much water they put on that track – we might have to threaten to scratch, it’s been done before.
"She is a winning chance, even if the track has got some give in it. If it’s very firm no, she will find that challenging.
"If she produces her best and the track suits her a bit, she could well be too good for them."
